Naser Dobashi and the Centralia Auction have been in business for over 20 years, and after a longtime stint with operations based in Centralia, the biweekly auto sale has moved into the small town of McKenna, just off of state Route 507.
In an interview with the Nisqually Valley News on Monday, Dec. 30, Dobashi said the location in McKenna is bigger than the previous Centralia Auction area.
Dobashi said that the auction includes an assortment of vehicles such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, RVs, motorhomes and more. Centralia Auction receives these vehicles via donation or through dealer consignments.
“We deal with the processing center. They send us the vehicles and we auction those off for them,” Dobashi said. “With the auction process, you can come the day before on Saturday to preview the vehicles. We’ll give you the key, [and] you can start the vehicle so you can know what you’re bidding on. We’ll be there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday before the auction, and from 9 a.m. to 11:30 on Sunday. The auction itself will start at 12 p.m.”
The business itself is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week during auction weeks and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday during auction off weeks.
Centralia Auction opened its location in McKenna last June. Dobashi added that business has been going well since the relocation. He added that though auction attendance varies, the average number of bidders attending has “not been bad.”
“We have all kinds of cars here. It depends on what the donation or consignment was. It’s all sorts of vehicles. You won’t see brand new cars, mainly used vehicles here,” Dobashi said. “It’s been really good in McKenna. I’m happy with the move. We’re going to do our best. We’ve been in the car business for a long time. Hopefully, we’ll expand.”
According to the business’s website, vehicles must be picked up from the location in McKenna within two days after the purchase. Vehicle bidding begins at $100. Dobashi also cleared any confusion on if the business had expanded its location or moved its location to McKenna.
“We moved out to McKenna. We’re no longer in Centralia. My cousin owns the property here in McKenna, and we were authorized to move here because our lease was up in Centralia,” Dobashi said. “We did some improvements to the property here and then moved in. There’s some potential here, and it’s closer to where we live than Centralia. We’re from Tacoma.”
Centralia Auction is located at 35611 state Route 507, McKenna.
Email nw.auto@yahoo.com or call 360-807-4331 for more information. Visit its website at www.centraliaauction.com to browse the business’s inventory or to preregister for the auction itself.
